--- title: But while all the people were still on their faces, holding on tight… — The Book of Dragons · tree and pragmatics description: But while all the people were still on their faces, holding on tight to themselves, Uncle James, the magician, never thought of holding tight--he only thought of how to punish Belgian hares and the sons of gardeners; so when the big beasts grew small, he grew small with the other beasts, and the lit --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg23661/5/3/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/) / [The Book of Dragons](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg23661/) / [Opening, part 5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg23661/5/) / 3 # The Book of Dragons, Opening, part 5, sentence 3 But while all the people were still on their faces, holding on tight to themselves, Uncle James, the magician, never thought of holding tight--he only thought of how to punish Belgian hares and the sons of gardeners; so when the big beasts grew small, he grew small with the other beasts, and the little purple dragon, when he fell at the Princess's feet, saw there a very small magician named Uncle James. **Who acts:** people, James, big beasts · **What happens:** be, hold, not think, think, punish, grow · **To what, where:** faces, magician, Belgian hares, little purple dragon, feet, small magician · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «The Book of Dragons» by E. Nesbit, Opening, part 5. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (people, James, big beasts), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree. **Parsed by Mova, not checked by a teacher.** This tree is Mova's own parse (the `en` model, on the CPU, when the site is built); it may be wrong. ## The tree {#tree} ```conllu # sent_id = book:pg23661:5:3 # text = But while all the people were still on their faces, holding on tight to themselves, Uncle James, the magician, never thought of holding tight--he only thought of how to punish Belgian hares and the sons of gardeners; so when the big beasts grew small, he grew small with the other beasts, and the little purple dragon, when he fell at the Princess's feet, saw there a very small magician named Uncle James. 1 But but CCONJ CC _ 10 cc _ _ 2 while while SCONJ IN _ 10 mark _ _ 3 all all DET PDT PronType=Tot 5 det:predet _ _ 4 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 5 det _ _ 5 people people NOUN NNS Number=Plur 10 nsubj _ _ 6 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 10 cop _ _ 7 still still ADV RB _ 10 advmod _ _ 8 on on ADP IN _ 10 case _ _ 9 their their PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 10 nmod:poss _ _ 10 faces face NOUN NNS Number=Plur 0 root _ SpaceAfter=No 11 , , PUNCT , _ 12 punct _ _ 12 holding hold VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 10 conj _ _ 13 on on ADP IN _ 14 case _ _ 14 tight tight ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 12 xcomp _ _ 15 to to ADP IN _ 16 case _ _ 16 themselves themselves PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes 14 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 17 , , PUNCT , _ 19 punct _ _ 18 Uncle Uncle PROPN NNP Number=Sing 19 compound _ _ 19 James James PROPN NNP Number=Sing 10 parataxis _ SpaceAfter=No 20 , , PUNCT , _ 22 punct _ _ 21 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 22 det _ _ 22 magician magician NOUN NN Number=Sing 19 appos _ SpaceAfter=No 23 , , PUNCT , _ 25 punct _ _ 24 never never ADV RB PronType=Neg 25 advmod _ _ 25 thought think VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 22 acl _ _ 26 of of SCONJ IN _ 27 mark _ _ 27 holding hold VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 25 advcl _ _ 28 tight tight ADV RB _ 27 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 29 -- -- PUNCT , _ 32 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 30 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 32 nsubj _ _ 31 only only ADV RB _ 32 advmod _ _ 32 thought think VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 25 parataxis _ _ 33 of of SCONJ IN _ 36 mark _ _ 34 how how ADV WRB PronType=Int 36 advmod _ _ 35 to to PART TO _ 36 mark _ _ 36 punish punish VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 32 ccomp _ _ 37 Belgian Belgian ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 38 amod _ _ 38 hares hare NOUN NNS Number=Plur 36 obj _ _ 39 and and CCONJ CC _ 41 cc _ _ 40 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 41 det _ _ 41 sons son NOUN NNS Number=Plur 38 conj _ _ 42 of of ADP IN _ 43 case _ _ 43 gardeners gardener NOUN NNS Number=Plur 41 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 44 ; ; PUNCT , _ 50 punct _ _ 45 so so ADV RB _ 50 advmod _ _ 46 when when ADV WRB PronType=Int 50 advmod _ _ 47 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 49 det _ _ 48 big big ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 49 amod _ _ 49 beasts beast NOUN NNS Number=Plur 50 nsubj _ _ 50 grew grow VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 32 conj _ _ 51 small small ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 50 xcomp _ SpaceAfter=No 52 , , PUNCT , _ 54 punct _ _ 53 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 54 nsubj _ _ 54 grew grow VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 50 conj _ _ 55 small small ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 54 xcomp _ _ 56 with with ADP IN _ 59 case _ _ 57 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 59 det _ _ 58 other other ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 59 amod _ _ 59 beasts beast NOUN NNS Number=Plur 55 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 60 , , PUNCT , _ 65 punct _ _ 61 and and CCONJ CC _ 65 cc _ _ 62 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 65 det _ _ 63 little little ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 65 amod _ _ 64 purple purple ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 65 amod _ _ 65 dragon dragon NOUN NN Number=Sing 54 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 66 , , PUNCT , _ 69 punct _ _ 67 when when ADV WRB PronType=Int 69 advmod _ _ 68 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 69 nsubj _ _ 69 fell fall VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 54 conj _ _ 70 at at ADP IN _ 74 case _ _ 71 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 72 det _ _ 72 Princess Princess PROPN NNP Number=Sing 74 nmod:poss _ SpaceAfter=No 73 's 's PART POS _ 72 case _ _ 74 feet foot NOUN NNS Number=Plur 69 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 75 , , PUNCT , _ 76 punct _ _ 76 saw see VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 69 conj _ _ 77 there there ADV RB PronType=Dem 76 advmod _ _ 78 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 81 det _ _ 79 very very ADV RB _ 80 advmod _ _ 80 small small ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 81 amod _ _ 81 magician magician NOUN NN Number=Sing 76 obj _ _ 82 named name VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 81 acl _ _ 83 Uncle Uncle PROPN NNP Number=Sing 84 compound _ _ 84 James James PROPN NNP Number=Sing 82 xcomp _ SpaceAfter=No 85 . . PUNCT . _ 10 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **is** | past | all people | | | people's faces | still | | tree rules | | 2 | **hold** | gerund | all people *not said here* | | | | | tight *property* | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 3 | **not** **think** *speech: other* | participle | | the magician *not said here* | | | | | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 4 | **hold** | gerund | | | | | | tight *property* | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 5 | **think** *speech: other* | past | James | | | | | | vn consider-29.9-2 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Theme | | 6 | **punish** | to-infinitive | | Belgian hares and the sons of gardeners | | | | | vn prosecute-33.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent hare=Patient | | 7 | **grow** | past | the big beasts | | | | | small *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 8 | **grow** | past | James | the little purple dragon | | | | small *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 9 | **fall** | past | James | | | the Princess's feet | | | vn occur-48.3 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme at foot=Location | | 10 | **see** | past | James *not said here* | a small magician | | there | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer magician=Stimulus | | 11 | **name** | participle | | a small magician *not said here* | | | | | vn appoint-29.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent | One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree. **Text:** «The Book of Dragons» by E. Nesbit, Project Gutenberg book 23661 (public domain in the USA). **Tree:** Mova's own parse, Elamur Cosmic License. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), the chapter read in order. - ← previous: [sentence 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg23661/5/2/) - next →: [sentence 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg23661/5/4/) - ↑ back to [Opening, part 5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg23661/5/)